Konami quits console gaming, but Pro Evo survives

If you're a fan of Konami video games, we hope you really, really like Pro Evolution Soccer. The Japanese studio has reportedly cancelled all development of "triple A" home console titles with the exception of its football franchise.

Problems had been brewing at the publisher for at least a year, most publicly with the disagreements with developer Hideo Kojima. The final blow for big-budget development at Konami appears to be the departure of Julien Merceron, the company's worldwide technology director.

Advertisement

As a result, Eurogamer reports that production on all console games has been cancelled. Pro Evolution Soccer is likely only spared because of its enduring popularity in Japan. The impending Metal Gear Online is still planned for launch, but that is seen as an expansion to the recently released Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The Kojima ruck lead to the cancellation of Silent Hills, the closure of in-house studio Kojima Productions, and the removal of Kojima's name from The Phantom Pain's packaging. This has seemingly influenced Merceron -- who oversaw the impressive Fox Engine, most recently used in the creation of MGS V -- deciding to leave.

Disappointment with Konami's abandonment of the console market in order to focus on mobile gaming also informed Merceron's leaving. Konami president Hideki Hayakawa said in May that mobile development was the main focus. Reports also surfaced in Japanese financial newspaper in August over Konami's harsh corporate culture. Employees' behaviour would be monitored by CCTV, developers being demoted to office cleaners, and shaming employees who went even slightly over their lunch breaks.

However, the stepping away from console games isn't a sign that Konami is struggling financially. If anything, the opposite is true -- the company sees rude profits from its mobile, pachinko and arcade gaming businesses, and runs a successful chain of fitness clubs in Japan.

Advertisement

The 2010 success of social game Dragon Collection is seen as the turning point in Konami's stance on gaming. The low-cost mobile title delivered a far greater return than expensive cinematic games as favoured by Kojima. By comparison, The Phantom Pain's development cost an estimated ¥10bn (£53.4m).

Still, it's a tragic day for fans of Konami's classic franchises, including Castlevania, Zone of the Enders, and Contra. For a glimpse of the future of those series, you can probably expect something more like this.

WIRED.co.uk has contacted Konami representatives for comment, but was told that relevant figures "are at Tokyo Games Show, so cannot comment at this time".